Thursday 14 June 2012

Lagoon breeders




Škocjanski zatok NR: back to the reserve after two weeks of absence, but nothing really exciting to report today. A Little Tern in the brackish lagoon was the best bird - probably one of the presumed breeding pairs in the area. A good record anyway.
Lots of Common Tern activity otherwise. I counted 52 birds in total, including the numerous juveniles on the sandy islands. But many went overlooked due to the thick vegetation growing all over the islands. In the lagoon a flock of 15 Common Redshanks was also of note. This year there are at least 3 breeding pairs in the area, but the ones I saw are probably migrants.
Also lots of other chicks around including Black-winged Stilt's, Moorhen's and Coot's. Three to four pairs of Yellow Wagtails are also breeding in the lagoon.
Pics above: Common Tern, Black-winged Stilt (adult) and Black-winged Stilt (juvenile)